Tarver to shed bulk for Green
The "Magic Man" will be aiming to make a considerable amount of his heavyweight bulk disappear before he faces Danny Green in Sydney in July.
Antonio Tarver, who is confident he will be the first fighter to knock out the International Boxing Organisation cruiserweight champion, carried more than 100kg into the ring when he last fought as a heavyweight against Nagy Aguilera in October last year.
He now accepts he tried to jump too far, too soon from the light-heavyweight (79.4kg) ranks he dominated at his peak and will be forced to shed around 10kg in the next eight weeks to squeeze under the 90.7kg cruiserweight limit for the Green fight on July 20.
"It's going to be tough work but I'm not immune to tough work," Tarver said.
"Everything I've had to accomplish in life has been tough. If it's not tough it's not worth it.
"At heavyweight, I didn't even have to run that much. I'm going to have to put in the work in order to be the best 200 pounds (90.7kg) I can be."
But Tarver has no concerns about the possibility of his battle to shed weight leaving him drained of strength on fight night.
"Right now we are going to lean down and you are going to see the best Antonio Tarver July 20th," he said.
"I'm going to be lean, mean and I'm going to be a fighting machine.
"If I come here in great shape and I'm strong, I'm going to give Danny Green nightmares.
"I don't care what weight we fight at."
And the former light-heavyweight champion, who will be fighting outside the United States for the first time, believes he can snatch Green's IBO cruiserweight belt inside the distance.
After racking up 28 wins, 19 by knockout, and six losses on home soil, Tarver admitted concerns that the judges would be influenced by the Sydney crowd should the fight go to the score card.
"If I start landing my shots, I'm knocking him out," he said. "I'm not going to trust the judges. I'm already paranoid.
"That's why I'm training the way I am and I'm focused on getting him out of there."
Tarver is four years older than 38-year-old Green, who has 31 wins (27KO) and three losses, but the American claims significant lay-offs between his own fights - he has fought seven times in the last five years - have prolonged his career.
"People think I'm on the down side of my career but those year-long lay-offs have done me well," he said.
"I don't have no mileage on me. I don't spar a whole lot of rounds, so I'm not getting abused in the ring.
"I'm a young 42-year-old fighter. I know some 24, 25-year-old fighters that are shot because of the punishment they've been taking. It's not me because I preserve myself very well."
